30 Days to Family Specialist

Job DescriptionJob DescriptionSummary of Position

30 Days to Family® is a short-term intervention to expand efforts to find safe, appropriate relative support and placements for youth entering foster care. The program is designed to assist in meeting the 2008 Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act’s 30-day standard and Missouri youth placing agencies’ legal requirement of notifying a youth’s adult relatives of their option to participate in the care and placement of the youth. The initial search is for non-offending parents and grandparents, but at least 80 additional relatives will be identified, contacted, and explored for potential placement and support. Because foster care placements can be fragile, the goal is to identify multiple relatives or kin as potential placement providers. Maternal and paternal relatives are explored with equal interest.

In all cases, every effort is made to keep siblings together, maintain youth in their school of origin, and preserve the youth’s important relationships with friends and supportive adults. Once the placement provider is identified, the Specialist provides support to the family in the identification of family and community resources, assistance in eliminating barriers to placement with relatives, and creating a network of formal and informal supports to assist with placement stability.

To best meet the scheduling needs of the family, approximately 10% of the Specialist’s work may be performed in the evening or on the weekend.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities

• Demonstrates a commitment to the following program philosophies:
  1. Youth deserve to be with their family
  2. Family takes care of family
  3. All families include members who are willing and able to care for youth
  4. Families are the expert and may need help discovering and organizing their strengths
  5. Relatives have a right to know family exists
  6. Everyone has something to contribute
• Assists the case manager and court officials with meeting the Fostering Connections to Success Act, applicable Missouri statutes, and Missouri Children’s Division policy regarding relative/kin notification and placement.
• Collects information from relatives/kin to expand the youth’s support system and family connections, while identifying potential relative home providers.
• Identifies and documents at least 80 relatives/kin for each youth through family finding diligent search activities, including: internet & database searches; Children’s Division case file reviews; and youth, family, and collateral contact interviews.
• Facilitates ongoing communication with the team and provides the referring agencies with accurate family documentation, including detailed genograms, family contact information, and identified family supports on a regular basis.
• Participates in court hearings, external and internal meetings and/or individual professional consultations. Most of these meetings will be attended in person.

• Navigates various software packages to obtain, collect, and track program outcome data in a timely manner as required by the funder and/or the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition.

• Completes assessments on the youth and family functioning upon case referral and case closure to measure the success and outcomes of the program.
• Assists in preparing the family for licensure by explaining the licensing process and assisting with home licensing requirements.
• Provides identified relative resource provider with additional community support and resources for placement stability.
• Submits detailed activity notes and documentation of all case related billing activities in accordance with funding requirements as required by the funder and/or the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition.
• Completes monthly billing sheets timely and daily activity log, accurately and in accordance with funding requirements as required by the funder and/or the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition.
• Maintains accurate files and records for each client.
• Understands, or willing to learn, Genopro and Salesforce.
• Meets all 30 Days to Family® program outcomes.
• Travels within the Coalition’s service area which includes St. Louis City, St. Louis, Jefferson, St. Charles, Lincoln, Warren, and Franklin counties.
• Respects and demonstrates understanding for differences including the ability to interact effectively with individuals regardless of race, religion, gender, gender identity and expression, national origin, sexual orientation, age, disability, and socioeconomic status.
• Receives and responds to training, coaching, supervision, and feedback; works well in team setting.
• Responds to communication from families and professionals in a respectful and timely manner.
• Visits with the youth and family in-home or in the community to address concerns that relate to placement stability.

Department Specific / Non-Essential Functions

• Answers and responds to phone calls, emails, and inquiries regarding the Coalition and/or 30 Days to Family® program
• Completes assigned office tasks
• Completes ongoing education and training as approved by or assigned by supervisor
• Always keeps work calendar and core business hours up to date
• Other duties as assigned
• Participates in agency functions, and activities as required

Qualifications & RequirementsEducation

Bachelor's degree in a social service field

Experience

• Demonstrated experience working with interdisciplinary teams utilizing innovative strategies to overcome obstacles.
• Direct experience in the child welfare field with knowledge of foster care and adoption and experience in family interview, engagement, and assessment.
• Experience in resource parent licensing strongly preferred.

Preferred Skills / Qualifications

• Sense of urgency and understanding the importance of 30 Days to Family® search and contact guidelines
• Ability to work outside of a “business as usual” model, including:

1. a “relentless” search for family
2. vigorous search for and engagement of fathers a strength-based approach to engaging family members in a problem-solving process to identify and organize their collective resources to support relative placement

• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Strong organizational skills and superior time management
• Professional maturity to work independently, while also engaging with peers and supervisory staff
• Superior advocacy skills
• Experience in team facilitation, including conflict resolution and negotiation
• Adaptability and flexibility

Additional Skills/Competencies necessary to carry out services to the service population's culture and socioeconomic characteristics

• Must be able to provide own transportation and ability to drive within our service areas (St. Louis County, St. Louis City, St. Charles County, Jefferson County, Franklin County, Lincoln County and Warren County). Automobile insurance and valid driver’s license required.
• This position requires an ability to identify needs unique to various diverse populations including those of different gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic ground, race, religion, and physical or mental capacity and address those needs with community resource referrals.
• This position requires a respect for the confidentiality of the youth and families the organization serves.
• This position requires passing background checks (references, Family Care Safety Registry, Form 1-9, etc.)
• This position requires a clean criminal history.
• Must fulfill the responsibility as a mandated reporter in the State of Missouri.
• Behaves with integrity, demonstrates high ethical standards, and displays a positive image of the Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition.
• Demonstrates accountability for results and keeps commitments to others.

Organizational Relationships/Scope

This position reports to the Director of 30 Days to Family®. Collaborative consultation will be sought from all program teams, including but not limited to Educational Advocacy, Extreme Recruitment, CareLine, Comprehensive Systems Navigation, Families United, Family Connections, and Family Works.

Working Conditions

• This position entails work in the community and office.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to communicate effectively.
• The physical requirements of this job include sitting, standing, walking, climbing stairs, and lifting to 25 lbs., pulling and/or pushing on occasion.
• Use of an automobile for travel to multiple sites is required.
• The Coalition office is considered home-based with primary office hours Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Some early morning, evening, and occasional weekend hours may be necessary to meet this position's essential expectations.

Agency Shared Values

Employees of the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition agree to hold themselves and their colleagues to the following values:

• Equity: We insist on fairness and respect. We are deliberate in ensuring everyone has safety, opportunity, access, and support to be heard.
• Family: We are family. We are connected and support one another in meeting the needs of our own families and the families we serve. We assume the best and are committed to each other.
• Diversity: We celebrate differences and harness the power that diversity brings. Every viewpoint is heard and honored. We are stronger because of our differences.
• Innovation & Excellence: We are intentional about knowing better and doing better, using innovation and solution-focus approaches with courageous passion and excellence.
• Inclusion: We respect, leverage, and engage everyone's unique strengths and talents so each individual can contribute to their full potential.
• Integrity: We are an agency built on integrity, maintaining a culture of trust, respect, transparency, and honesty. We walk in our truth and uphold ethical standards.
• Courage: We stand up for each other and what is right for our clients and stakeholders with truth, vulnerability, and accountability.
• Teamwork & Collaboration: We develop and maintain authentic relationships by being flexible and open-minded and maximizing the strengths of each individual in the team to accomplish the best outcome for our children and families. Everyone contributes to leadership.

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